![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/western-meadowlark-4483-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-4483-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nWhat would you do?<\/p>\n
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1\/4000, f\/7.1, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I photographed this Western Meadowlark three days ago as it lifted off from rabbitbrush on Antelope Island. I have what I consider to be better takeoff shots of this species but I still think this one has significant merits because all parts of the bird but the wings are sharp, I like the extended takeoff posture, I have eye contact and a catch light, I think both the side light and the composition work well enough and I didn’t clip or cut off any body parts.<\/p>\n I’m less pleased with the wings that are soft due to insufficient depth of field but I don’t think that’s an image-killer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s another version of the same image. Did you notice the difference between the first version and this one?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s the first version again. There are at least six out of focus dark blobs in the lower left quadrant of the image, I’ve marked one of them with a red arrow. All but one of the others are in the lower left corner of the photo. I cloned the blobs out in version two of the image.<\/p>\n Did you notice the blobs the first time you saw this version? I did and they drive me crazy.<\/p>\n I don’t like them because they look like dust spots on my camera sensor (dust bunnies) and they’re distracting. But in all of my other photos of this bird those blobs don’t exist so I know they really were there (they aren’t dust spots on my sensor.) They’re most likely debris from the rabbitbrush (or less likely tiny insects) disturbed and thrown into the air by the bird’s takeoff.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As a nature photographer I don’t like to use the clone tool to manipulate my photos – nature is nature, both the good and the bad, and “photo art” isn’t my bag. It’s an extremely slippery slope when we start removing or adding elements to our images. However, I have no problem removing sensor dust spots when they occur and in the past I’ve sometimes removed annoying dark spots on otherwise pristine water surfaces so where should the line be drawn? See what I mean about a “slippery slope?”<\/p>\n The way I see it the photographer in a situation like this one has four choices:<\/p>\n With this photo my inclination is #1 – clone the blobs out of the image and there’s no need to disclose what I’ve done. But those blobs are natural so if it’s OK to clone them out why isn’t it OK to clone out an annoying twig in front of the bird’s face or an out of focus bird in the background or any number of other annoying elements that regularly occur in bird photography? Where do nature photographers draw the line? That clone tool can be seductive.<\/p>\n What would you do?<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Note: In bird\/nature photography the reputation of the photographer is paramount. Once word gets out that you inappropriately manipulate your photos or bait your subjects or photograph “wildlife” at game farms or cheat at photo contests all is lost, especially if you don’t disclose your methods. That’s why I take things like this so seriously.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What would you do?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/western-meadowlark-4483e-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-4483e-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/western-meadowlark-4483d-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"western-meadowlark-4483d-ron-dudley\\"")
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